


when the times get rough, that’s when the diamonds shine (written by fantasybiologist)

by artsywrites



Category: Chromasynth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25512241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artsywrites/pseuds/artsywrites
Summary: road trip time™️
Kudos: 1





	1. sunning

Oojin wasn’t quite sure when she started dozing, but in her defense, it was really hard not to that afternoon. Adam had invited her, Mililani and Gabrielle over for… something that quickly got derailed once Mililani and Oojin opened their mouths. They all started ranting about shitty people in their work lives, Adam attempted to get work done on the bay window, aaand it all went downhill from there. 

Everyone eventually joined Adam on the glorified window sill, and Oojin felt the insatiable urge to nap, as the afternoon sun was _just_ right, warm in a satisfying way, and Adam was a perfectly good pillow. 

Now, Oojin was propped up on Adam’s stomach as she dozes with Adam fighting against his sleepiness by attempting a conversation with Mililani. With Mililani using Oojin’s stomach as a makeshift pillow, he tries to leach as much heat from Oojin as he lays on top of her legs, cutting off her circulation like the diva he is. 

Gabrielle and Adam put up a valiant fight, but Mililani softly talking in an almost lullaby broke down their defenses. Gabrielle, unwilling to get entangled in that mess of lanky limbs, shifts to sleep on the opposite wall from Adam, using her legs to pin down Mililani, creating a comfortable (and yet, still bony) weight on Mililani. While Mililani’s quite pleased with the result, what he doesn’t know is that Oojin and Gabrielle were scheming to trap him with their legs. What their end goal was, nobody knows. 

At some point, Oojin decides to break the napping silence by shifting her hands from her stomach to hug Mililani, because a person can only take so much before their hands also fall asleep. This causes a small chain reaction of tiny adjustments as Adam grabs a few nearby pillows so him and Gabrielle don’t get kinks in their necks, Oojin finally decides to talk, and Mililani attempts to move, realizing he’s fallen into a trap. 

A yawn. “Hey… weren’t we supposed to like… get something done?”

“Hm, yes, our travel plans.”

A silence.   
  


“... OH SHIT.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ☼ oojin dozing like a cat, with the slow blinking and all is too nice. 
> 
> ☼ a mirmir


	2. clothesline

After scrambling for 2 hours, the four friends had finalized what they wanted to do for their travels. That, fortunately, was the hardest part. It’s all downhill from here, though Adam thinks the negative meaning is the accurate one. 

“Mililani Gardener, what the hell are you doing.”

The accused in question was balancing on a branch, tangled up in rope, attempting to grab a rather large bird holding a bundle of blue fabric. 

“Adam! Just the man I wanted to see! Could you help me get this dick of a bird so I can get my shirt back?”

Looking at Mililani’s precarious situation, Adam says, “No,” out of the goodness of his heart. 

Glaring at Mililani with enough force to knock him out of the tree, Adam continues, “You got yourself into this situation because of being desperate-”

“I’m not desperate you dick.”

“-And you’re going to get out of it.”

“With your help?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Well, thank you for the insults. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m just going to struggle for the next 10 minutes,” Mililani says with an exaggerated flair. He continues to struggle for 5 minutes. It’s a bit of a miracle he didn’t fall off, while the bird looks like it’s going to fall off from sheer boredom. 

Mililani begins crawling toward the bird carefully to avoid falling or getting the ropes tangled, and notices Adam still hadn’t left despite Mililani  _ clearly _ wanting to suffer alone with his hubris. 

“What? If you’re not going to leave don’t just stand there and stare.” A beat. “ Actually, you can do that, but I don’t think that’s why you’re still here,” Mililani comments. 

Adam continues glaring (staring~!) at Mililani as though that would get any answers out of him. 

With a tired sigh, Mililani twists his body to look over at Adam saying, “Seriously, what do you want, you time machine.”

With an eyebrow raise, Adam inquires by asking, “Time machine? I think you can do better than that.”

With a scoff, Mililani continues his escapadés. “Of course I can. I’m just-” a grunt, “under-” another one, “a  _ little  _ stress right now,” he says as he grabs the blue shirt from the bird with a small “there!”. 

“Well, since you’ve been  _ such  _ a good friend, I’ll enlighten you about my tragedy of a wardrobe malfunction,” Mililani says, sitting up on the branch. 

“‘Wardrobe malfunction’? Shouldn’t you be saying your life?”

“La ha ha, shut up Einstein, now do you want to hear my story or are you just gonna be a prick?” Mililani shoots back. 

Adam crosses his arm and tilts his head in an attempt to show amusement. “I’d love to hear you humiliate yourself.”

“Ugh,” Mililani says with a pout. “So, I was packing, right?”

“And I was grabbing some things, but then this dick of a bird swooped in and stole my shirt! So, I ran out into the yard and chased down the fucker. I had to fight them for my shirt back, and as you can see, I clearly won,” Mililani bragged, clearly proud of his adventures. 

Adam squints at Mililani, bewildered. “How is anyone that much of a dumbass.” 

“Have you forgotten the last five years?” Mililani shot back. 

“Wish I could.”

Mililani gasps in mock offense, hand flying to his chest like a noblewoman, “How  _ dare _ you, Adam! Have these years meant nothing to you?”

He squints at the man. “No.”

“I am wounded, in the most absolute sense,” he says, feigning a faint against the branch. 

“Har har,” Adam shoots back. “Well, I’ll be leaving you now. Accept your tomfoolery,” he says with a wave aimed behind him as he walks off. 

“Hmph. Fine! Be a dick,” Mililani huffs. “Guess I won’t be doing your makeup.”

“One second,” Adam says, struggling up the tree. 

Mililani smirks, overly self-satisfied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✄ how do you write these two. what the fuck
> 
> ✄ the shirt mililani’s chasing is one of adam’s


	3. bash

A weighty  _ smack _ echoes around the field as Oojin whacks another baseball with a practiced methodicalness, sweat pouring down her face as she roasts in the (mild) spring sun, ball throwing machine relentless in its pace, and regular in its timing (a horrible 20 seconds). As Oojin’s arms ache and droop from swinging the bat, Gabrielle barely bats an eye Oojin’s  _ obvious _ suffering. Instead, she’s lounging on several seats, soaking up the sun like a cat, scrolling through a very detailed itinerary from Adam, mentally checking off what had and what had not been packed. 

With a frustrated pout, Gabrielle shouts at Oojin, “Did you pack a swimsuit OJ?” Which snaps Oojin out of the zone she had dropped into, and snaps her head towards Gabrielle with a confused look. 

“What? I thought we were only gonna be on a road trip?” Oojin says, squinting. If she remembers correctly, the four of them had planned out a route throughout the country, hitting all 50 states, to go on during the summer. 

“Well, yes, but you know Adam,” Gabrielle says, suppressing a giggle. “Always over-planning.”

Oojin mulls over Gabrielle’s words and the gum in her mouth before coming up with a decent quip back. “Yeah, but swimsuits? There’s better ways to set up romance opportunities.” Gabrielle looks over at Oojin, miffed. 

“If Adam wanted to kiss any of us, I’m sure he would’ve said something already,” Gabrielle insists with a coy grin. “Otherwise he’d have to be pining! And that’s just silly, heehee.”

“Haha, yeah.”

An awkward silence fills the humid air as the two consider what was implied. Oojin awkwardly looks away from Gabrielle, dragging the tip of the worn-metal bat through the red sand, trying to figure out what to say. The teasing smile Gabrielle was wearing slips a little. 

“So how about that list Gabs?” Oojin suddenly says, licking her lips, and spooking Gabrielle into action. 

“Oh, ah, right!” Gabrielle’s eyes fly back to the list. “I wanted to make sure you had everything!” she says with the tone a person uses when they’re caught off guard. Gabrielle’s nails click against the screen, phone case green and worn. 

“Unlike Mililani?” Oojin quips, focus returning to balls littered around her on the ground. Miraculously, none of them had hit her. 

She readies her stance again. 

“Yes, because he  _ always _ brings an entire wardrobe with him every trip,” Gabrielle complains. “And  _ you _ never bring enough,” she says, looking mildly disgusted as she remembers the time where Oojin forgot to bring enough pants and they were going on a hike. The grass stains never got out. Gabrielle shivers and returns back to list on her phone to forget. 

“Haha, yeeaah wasn’t that fun?”

“Heehee, no, Oojin. It wasn’t.”

“Besides, we should really be talking about the fact that Mililani brings  _ heels _ everywhere he goes,” Oojin says, grimacing. “I swear, if he doesn’t break ‘em, I’m gonna at this rate.” The amount of times Mililani has used her clothes as a carpet was egregious. 

“Please don’t, he’ll murder you.”

“Hmm, good point,” Oojin cedes, whacking a ball over the top of the back wall with utmost focus. “But, better point, it’d be funny if I did.”

“Then he’d kill you, and I’d have to take revenge for you,” Gabrielle responds immediately, never missing a beat. Oojin’s face loosens up a little from Gabrielle’s comment, a little more fond now. 

“Aw, you’d do that for me, Gabs?” But not overly so. 

Gabrielle looks up from her phone, her eyes crinkled from a grin. “Of course, heehee. And Adam would say ‘They had it coming like the fools they were,” she says in a poor imitation of Adam’s deeper voice. 

“HAH.” The last ball finally empties itself from the throwing machine, Oojin slamming the thing into the back wall with the  _ crunch _ of metal. She takes a deep breath, a nice break from the constant swinging. “Yeah.”

✸☉✸☉✸☉

A quick water break and ball-refilling break later, Oojin is hunched over Gabrielle’s phone as she squints at the extensive list Adam penned, partly from disbelief and mostly from disgust. 

“Why the hell do we each need a car pump?”

Gabrielle looks up from double-knotting her shoes, brows also furrowed in confusion. 

“That… that was on the list?”

“Yeah…?” Oojin trails off. “ And also, wait,” she pauses as she tries to understand what she’s reading. “A GUN?”

“Are you pulling my leg OJ?” Gabrielle asks, thoroughly unimpressed and focused back on her shoes. 

“Haha, yeah,” Oojin unashamedly admits. “But really? Do we need syringes?” Oojin points out. “Those things creep me out.”

“Hm. Maybe we could just ignore a couple…” Gabrielle wonders. 

“Hah, yeah. Then Mililani would rat us out so he can keep his sixteen bags,” Oojin notes, face scrunched up as she imagines the boys double teaming them. 

“Oh, I’m sure Mili won’t notice!” Gabrielle cheerfully points out. “Not if we steal something else that Adam would disapprove of. We can use it as proof against him!” she excitedly claps as she forms a plan. 

“Ooo, blackmail. I like it Gabs,” Oojin teases. She then stands up, bracing her arms on her knees, and stretching her arms all the way up. Hands on her hips, Oojin says, “So, how do you want the machine to go?”

“Hm. I think I’ll try to beat your record Oojin,” is Gabrielle’s cheeky response. 

“Hahah, no. You’d die if you did that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✸ so i like my double meanings in titles
> 
> ✸ this was originally meant to be oojin and gabrielle insulting mililani, but it got out of hand


	4. cut

After Mililani had gotten out of the tree, and had finished packing his dolphin-covered suitcase under the supervision (and help) of Adam, Adam finally brought up the  _ favor.  _

“So—”

“Yeah, yeah, lay down,” Mililani cutting him off, already knowing what he wanted, motioning Adam to lay down on his bed. While Adam got comfortable on the plush sheets, ( _ Mililani hadn’t changed his sheets for summer _ , Adam notes.) Mililani searched through his eyeliners, debating whether or not to use the crummy old one he forgot to throw out as revenge for Adam’s teasing or one of the newer ones. 

As tempting as the first option is, he opts for a thin liner, the one with the nice brush tip practically inviting him to do fancy designs. Mind you, he doesn’t, the one time he did was a disaster, but that was a story to be kept between him and his stained halter top. 

When Mililani got back from rummaging through his eyeliner cup, he found Adam laying down almost dozing, a rare sight all things considered. Half-lidded eyes stare up at the galaxy of glow-in-the-dark stars, counting the pastel shapes and weighing what to do. ( _ With what?  _ Mililani wonders.) 

Mililani backpedals out of the doorway and back into his makeup room, deciding to head back to grab an eyeshadow palette; a sandy box with an iridescent shimmer. It had the neutral colors that looked so nice on Adam, along with the soft, pastel, cerulean that made Adam’s eyes pop. Mililani briefly wonders if Gabrielle knew that Adam liked wearing makeup and having these little makeovers with Mililani, and if that’s why she gave him the palette.  _ She definitely does,  _ now that Mililani thinks about it. 

He grabbed some brushes, decided to put away the glitter, and nabbed a pack of makeup wipes. (Just in case Adam moved and Mililani slipped (however unlikely), like that one time where it got a streak of sparkly blue dashing down Adam’s cheek and to his jawline. Adam rushed to the sink to wash it off before he “fucked up this cardigan, do you know how long makeup takes to wash off—”, but Mililani was stuck on how pretty the blue was  on Adam’s skin; like he cried starlight. ) Mililani was (overly) confident in his handiwork, but unfortunately not everyone could be as perfect as he was. All in all, the extra nap time he gave Adam ended up being around five minutes, with Mililani walking back to an almost asleep Adam. 

Adam was very comfortable on Mililani’s silk (silk!) sheets, so comfortable in fact, he didn’t notice himself drifting off as he sorted through what needed to be done while counting the numerous knickknacks hung up on the ceiling, anchored by the absurd amount of glow-in-the-dark stars. So, the light ruffle of sheets as Mililani sat down on the edge of the bed, shocked Adam awake, since Mililani was never quiet and neither were the rest of their friends, so the sneakier wake-up was noticeable. 

Adam’s eyes snapped open, trying to find something to say as he lay on the bed. A few groggy groans slipped out before he got his bearings. 

“Are you okay, Mililani,” Adam immediately asks. 

“Hm? Yes, of course I am, when am I never?” is the response Mililani jokingly snaps back. Adam frowns a bit. Whoops. 

“It’s just—” Adam averts his eyes, trying to think up what to say. “I’ve never seen you this quiet.”

A little frown forms on Mililani’s face, a little miffed. He decides to double down on the rude angle as he spits out, “Shouldn’t you be grateful, Adam? Haven’t you told me that my ‘insufferable ramblings are far too obnoxious and warrant your mouth being taped up’?” Adam winces. “Honestly, going by that you should be happy! I’m doing you a favor, aren’t I?”

Adam’s looking off to his left side now, lips pursed, thinking.  _ Always thinking.  _ He’s laying very still now, muscles frozen, rolling around his thoughts as Mililani waits a beat. Then another. 

Adam steels himself. “I’m… sorry about any previous comments that have upset you,” he frowns again. “No, that’s worse.”

“I’m sorry that I made you upset,” Adam revises. “That was wrong of me and I’ll stop or try to clarify when I’m joking.”

A snort breaks the serious silence. 

Adam turns to look at Mililani with a glare as he breaks out into giggles. 

“La ha ha—” Mililani doubles over as he notices Adam’s glaring. Adam glares harder. Mililani laughs harder. 

“Well, if you’re not going to accept my apology then I’ll just retract it—” Adam starts. 

“Wait, no—” Mililani stifles the giggles. “I accept it! It’s just,” he lays down. “You didn’t have to be so serious about it! I thought you were just playing along!” Mililani giggles as he faints across Adam’s legs. 

“Wha— playing along?” Adam stammers, sitting up in confusion. “I thought I had sincerely hurt your feelings!”

“Now really? You thought  _ you _ hurt my feelings? It’s been years of teasing! Don’t you think I would’ve spoken up about it sooner?” Mililani says with a Cheshire grin. 

“Well then,” A grimace. “There goes my attempt at sincerity.” And the defeated lays back down. 

“It was appreciated, Einstein” Mililani says with a smile. A very pretty,  _ genuine _ , smile that makes his cute dimples show up and his eyes crinkle and— Ahem. 

“So, before you got us off track with that  _ lovely _ talk, what were we doing again?” Mililani asks, saying the rhetorical question as if his escalation was nothing. 

“The favor?” Adam inquires. 

“Oh! Right, sorry, but in my defense, it’s hard  _ not  _ to get dragged into a good fight,” Mililani grins as he teases Adam. 

Adam gives Mililani the most deadpan stare he’s seen in years. 

Mililani swats at Adam’s face. “Shut up, you dick.”

➤✎➤✎➤✎

After Adam settles in, Mililani grabs the eyeshadow palette and eyeliner, straddling Adam and staring at him, debating what to do. Pursing his lips in thought, Mililani doesn’t notice Adam staring back at him, mildly flustered. 

_ This is fine,  _ Adam thinks.  _ He just needs a better angle to draw the eyeliner.  _ Mililani sits on Adam’s stomach, eyeliner pen tapping a beat on his chin.  _ Never mind.  _

“Hmmm,” Mililani hums. “Alright Adam, how do you feel about eyeshadow around your eyes? Make those pretty blues pop a bit more?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, that sounds good,” Adam lies, the words flying across his head. 

Mililani squints at him. “Are you listening or are you drifting off to my voice?” Mililani says, popping open the eyeshadow kit. “I don’t blame you honestly, not even  _ I _ am invincible against my own charm.”

“No, of course not, I was merely,” he hesitates. “thinking.” Adam closes his right eye as Mililani dusts it with a brush. ( _ Why do you always do the right eye first?  _ Adam asked one sticky, summery evening.  _ Because it’s easier to do the hardest part first, and then it’s smooth sailing from there,  _ was the answer. That answer always struck Adam as. Off.)

“About what? Oojin or something?” Mililani remarks so flippantly, like it was the weather. It was not the just weather for Adam, it was like a thunder strike. “Where did you get that idea??”

“I have my sources,” is the cryptic answer. 

“Gabrielle?”

“Gabby.”

A sigh. “Either way, I know I’m not the one to give out advice here, but I think it’d do you some good to stop thinking and start acting on all those plans you think up,” Mililani matter-of-factly says. “Come down from your genius land and join us down here. Maybe you’ll get something out of it.”

Adam frowns at that and his brow furrows as he begins thinking on—

A flick. 

“Nope.” A gentle finger pushes on the crease between Adam’s furrowed eyebrows. “Stop doing that or your pretty face is gonna get wrinkles.”

A blank look takes over Adam’s face in the kind of small surprise that dropping a pencil has. 

“What? I’ve gotta keep you in check don’t I? Besides, you’re ruining the eyeshadow,” that was a blatant lie on Mililani’s part (he’s very careful with his hands) and an obvious out on Adam’s (unprecedented for Mililani, but maybe he knows he’ll also have to talk), a little path to somewhere safer, less…  _ personal _ , Adam thinks. 

“Oh? Didn’t you say your skills were unmatched?” he says, taking the safe route. The emotional adventure of the other one could wait for another day. 

“Yeah, but that doesn’t prevent dumbasses from ruining it without my help!” he plays along. 

➤✎➤✎➤✎

After Mililani finishes his work, Adam leaves an hour later, eyes decorated with a galaxy of blues, sharp black, and a few more crinkly crows feet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✎ someone mentioned something about adam’s eyeliner once and uh. 
> 
> ✎ the pose adam and mililani are in is that lesbian makeup pose! y’know the one
> 
> ✎ i never want to write dialogue again. it’s horrible


	5. crank [intermission]

The whine of a gear being tightened into place told the end of today’s grease-filled work, and so did smearing said grease all over her face as she attempted to wipe away the sweat from working in a steam-based engine.

The repairman heaved a heavy sigh, one she could feel expand her chest, settling in her bones. She was tired and in desperate need of a shower, though that wasn’t her biggest concern. You see, this girl is saving up for a gift for her friend’s birthday, a librarian and known tinkerer, Adam. So, her goal tonight (and every other night, really) was to get away with someone else paying for her dinner so she could squirrel away her savings for his present. 

She’s  _ so _ damn close to having enough, so close in fact, she’d only need today’s pay to do it. Hopping down from her scaffolding perch with nervous fervor, she and a handful of others work their way through the water-sweat of the pipes to the closest exit where their pay awaits them. As their feet rattle the rusted grates underfoot, she begins planning the fastest route home and to the store she needs. 

Their section all line up at the exit where the overseers give each worker their pay, the girl fidgeting with a loose flap on her glove as she impatiently waits in line. 

There was a visceral need to rush out of here and just  _ get the damn thing _ so she could finally take one of many weights off her shoulders. 

As soon as the pouch of money dropped into her hand, she ran out of the factory at break-neck speed, rushing through the crowded and noise-filled streets (they were really more like alleys with all the shop stands) to get back to her apartment, careful to grip the small bag close to her chest. Smoke and steam all combined in the tight quarters to create the ever-present grime and smog of this steam-powered city, the air feeling like slog to breath, and its visibility even worse. 

She ran as hard as the crowds would allow, swiftly dodging past people and debris, instinct fueling her run, making her slam into a taller person waiting at the curb with enough force to topple them both. 

“AAAH—”

“OH FUCK—”

The two collided and tumbled down, belongings flying everywhere. 

“Ow, ow ow, shit, where’s the bag—” the girl began panicking as she searched the cracked concrete for the bag, dirt dusting her body. 

The taller lass rights herself and begins indignantly talking. “Ohhh… hey! Watch where you’re going, Miss! You could’ve knocked me into the street!”

“Sorry, sorry, I need to find the bag and I’ll be out of your way,” the girl says absentmindedly, focus solely on the bag. 

The taller lady pouts a little and picks up said bag from being nestled in her sun hat. “Is this what you’re talking about?”

“Oh shit, yeah! Thank you so much, I’ll be going now—”

“Hold on,” the taller lady says, tugging on the other woman’s jacket before she runs off. “I think you owe me an apology.”

══════ ∘◦❀◦∘ ══════

“I’m sorry, alright Miss?” the woman pleads. “I helped you pick up all your flowers so would you please let me go now?” The desperation in her face was evident. 

“No,” the taller lass says. “You haven’t even introduced yourself properly, and  _ I  _ would like to know who’d just bowled me over.”

“Wha— ugh fine,” the shorter woman stumbles. “I’m Oojin Kim, it’s nice to meet— uh, I’m sorry, again, for knocking you over.”

“Thank you. I’m Gabrielle Eleazar, local florist,” the lass— Gabrielle, says with a small bow, careful to not hit anyone as the two huddle in a small storefront. 

_ Huh _ , Oojin thinks.  _ Gabrielle… that’s a pretty name, I’m surprised I’ve never heard of her _ . Most people in the city didn’t bother with formalities a whole lot, so the bow was. Weird. Another oddity that Gabrielle held in her basket of flowers was the fact that she was a florist, something that Oojin, and likely the entire lower class, have never seen. Fresh flowers are a luxury on the best days, reserved for the higher classes with soil to lose. The pastel green of her skirt and fancy sun hat ( _ We don’t even get sun!) _ also stand as a stark contrast to the muddled browns and saturated rainbow glass of the alleys. 

So, Oojin’s suspicions were raised. “What does a fancy lady like you have to do in the alleys?”

“Oh,” Gabrielle looked briefly shocked at the question, like she wasn’t expecting it. “I’m here to visit a… childhood friend. His— their birthday is coming up soon and I wanted to help him clean his place up a little! Fresh flowers never hurt anyone, right?”

Well, her story checked out at least. Oojin could smell the cleaning supplies coming from her bag, and the basket of blue flowers (now a bit trampled) were a stark contrast to the metal wrought structures surrounding the two. Though… 

“Would this birthday person happen to be a disgruntled librarian with—”

“— wild hair and a ridiculous scarf?” Gabrielle finishes. She smiles a fond smile. “Yeah, Adam’s a bit of a— he’s easy to pick apart from the crowd.”

Oojin laughs a little at Gabrielle, a nervous thing, but it breaks the tension a little. 

“So, you’re going over to Adam’s for his birthday?” Oojin asks, wanting some clarification. “Why’d you come so early?”

The answer comes easily to Gabrielle. “I need at least three days to convince him that his apartment needs cleaning,” she says matter-of-factly. Oojin nearly goes into a laughing fit at this, a few chuckles escaping, urging Gabrielle to join in the giggling.  _ Her laugh’s nice,  _ Gabrielle notes.  _ I’m going to have to write about it in my journal.  _

“Pffft— yeah—  _ hic _ , yeah, that uh, sounds like Adam,” Oojin giggles out. 

Gabrielle grin lights up from someone else sharing in her joy of teasing Adam (and maybe from something else, a little bit of a different smile-worthy light). “He really can be ridiculous sometimes, huh?”

“Yeah,” Oojin responds, still with a smile. “There was one time where he spent four days holed up in his room because he wanted to build an oven, and then—then he— it blew up in his face!” she says, a big grin on her face as her hands splay out to mimic the explosion. “He couldn’t get the smoke outta his room for  _ weeks _ !”

══════ ∘◦❀◦∘ ══════

“You’re kidding!” Gabrielle exclaims in disbelief, her laughter echoing across the night’s foggy haze. 

“I’m not! He really did it!” Oojin protests, out of breath. “Unless you don’t believe my toolkit?” she adds, waving around the chipped tools, stained a horrible yellow-green. 

“Okay, okay! I believe you! It’s just—” a huff, “It’s just— I can't believe that Adam chose  _ that _ shade of yellow!”

“Well you better, because I’d  _ never _ do that to my poor, poor tools.”

Gabrielle hums as she runs out of things to say. “Mm, well, yes, that would be out-of-character for you, wouldn’t it?”

“Haha, yeah.” A bustling silence fills the space as the two make their way through the buzzing streets of a city that never sleeps, shoulder to shoulder to avoid getting lost in the manic crowds. The silence isn’t as bad as it could be, just a little stuffy, nothing as bad as parties with aristocrats, Gabrielle notes. It at least gives the two lasses time to mull over each other, Oojin in particular.  _ Why in the world would Adam know someone this fancy? _ was the question underlying everything for Oojin, the answer for it something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. 

Soon enough, the two of them make it to the dilapidated door front of Adam’s apartment building, a strange sense of dread filling the two. 

“So—” “About my stay—” the two start and stop. 

A nervous chuckle gives away her nerves. “So, where are you staying?” Oojin asks, fidgeting with her glove’s flap. 

“Oh, yes,” she blinks. “I was hoping I’d be able to stay with Adam,” Gabrielle explains. “He’s too courteous to turn me down, even if he won’t let me clean his room.”

“Yeah, that checks out,” Oojin agrees. A quick deliberation. “But, if that doesn’t work out, you could stay at mine?” a gamble that came out as a question. 

Gabrielle’s eyes widen in surprise. “Oh… oh! I’d love to take you up on that! If it wouldn’t be a bother, of course. I can make due without your help,” she reassures. A little too much honestly. Oojin smiles a little smile, one that read as someone who just got a lucky draw at a rigged carnival. 

“Yeah?” was the hopeful question. 

“Yeah,” was the hopeful response. 

══════ ∘◦❀◦∘ ══════

(Oojin would like to think she made a really nice friend that day, a girl who reminded her of the spring blossoms and crisp winds of the land before the Construction. She wanted to see her again, get to know her better. Figure out what made her voice so nice. For Adam’s (her) sake.)


End file.
